A review by koistyfishy
Guardian of the Drowned Empire by Frankie Diane Mallis

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Do you know that feeling when you reach about 70% in a book and you on purpose drag it out longer because you don’t want the book to end. That feeling you know the story is just so good you can see yourself going into a book depression when it’s over… yeah I had that feeling with this book and it just kept getting worse and worse and worse and worse the closer I reached the end. Knowing that I was dreading, absolutely dreading, reading the last pages. Because this fantastical story would finally reach its end and I’d have to wait months for book 3!

Myself to Moriel! I am farther than Lethea for this book.  It’s characters, the impressive and rich storytelling and the fantastic worldbuilding, the political intrigue and intricate plot. I absolutely loved Book 1, but compared to this, the first book feels like it was just the foundation and the epic story starts here…

I honestly didn’t think that I could like a book more, and whilst I found myself frustrated, it wasn’t frustration at something annoying or wrong with the book. It was that I could so easily put myself into Lyr’s shoes and feel what she was experiencing. I was appalled for her. I was hurt for her. All I wanted to do was climb into the book and protect her and tell the Imperator and Emperor to stop! Stop their vile, vicious awful antics and atrocities that were being done to her… basically my heart burns for her.

This book ticks all the right boxes that make a good book great! 

  • The writing is excellent, easy to read but it feels mature and well contracted. 
  • Full fledged worldbuilding and a detailed lore system with its own language and customs.
  • HOLY BATMAN - the character development is TOP NOTCH!
  • There is a good balance of fantasy and romance elements

The plot progression does seem a bit strange at times as some moments the story moves really slowly, especially at the start (where a lot of the elements from the first book are rehashed) and then the story will instantaneously move a couple of months. You’ll also find moment in between where you’ll get a fast action section. So it’s not linear with the same speed throughout, but it didn’t bother me. I didn’t feel like I was losing details when the plot was really fast or that I was getting too much information and not going anywhere when the plot was slow. It almost reminded me of the cadence of life. Somethings go really quickly and somethings drag it out, and the reason why they feel dragged out has specific reason behind it or a moment. It was almost like the characters were going through those moments in the times the plot felt slow or they were just blurring one day into the next when it felt fast. Overall it just felt like it was moving at the right pace.

(I also really like that the book included a little summary of the first book in the beginning, even though I had read the first one right before this, it was refreshing to see that in a book as I’ve not really seen it anywhere else before. It was a nice touch). 

Lyr is one of the strongest female main characters I have ever read. She is so well formed and the character progression for her goes up 5000% in this book and makes her even better! Step aside Feyre I think I found my new IT girl… Lyr went through so much and through her tenacity she just triumphs and perseveres through every crap thing that is thrown at her. She goes through a lot…fucking hell a lot…and still manages to hold her head up high, be brave and even though tempted, she doesn’t crumble into a ball in fear.

The romance is incredibly trope-y. But that is how I like my romance. You’ve got the forbidden love, you’ve got the “only one bed”, you’ve got the bodyguard and charge and the novice and apprentice. All of which is wrapped up in a lovely bow. The spice level is not very high but that doesn’t mean you’re not going to feel the tension, the yearning, and the heat that these two characters have for each other. My God there needs to be more fanfiction of Rhyan out there, because he is just an Adonis personified and I would kill to have him as mine. He has jumped to the number one spot of book boyfriends… Yes Cassian that means you are out.

From a plot perspective, there were turns in this book I didn’t see coming.
Mercurial, The leader of the Emartis and Rhyan’s fucking power
but then there were things that were pretty obvious that I was just waiting to unfold.
It was quite obvious that Rhyan would eventually find out about the oath. It was obvious that Lyr was Asherah reincarnated. And we knew that Meera’s vision would come to pass.
.

I am extremely glad that this book exists. I am so happy that I have read it and cannot wait to see where the story goes. We finally have a enough foundation and plot to go somewhere. Amazing… I am anxiously waiting for Lady of the Drowned Empire. 
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